


Reunion

by Wilhelm_Alexander



Category: The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Genre: Afterlife, Brother-Sister Relationships, Gen, Ghosts, Grief/Mourning, Little Brothers, Missing Scene, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Post-Death in the Family, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wilhelm_Alexander/pseuds/Wilhelm_Alexander
Summary: A few nights after her death, Susie returns to earth to see her brother.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Although I liked the movie (it wasn't perfect), I wish they included this scene.

Young Buckley Salmon lies fast asleep in his bed, during a cold December night. His eldest sister Susie went missing just a few weeks before and she hasn't came home. The police found her wool hat near an underground den splattered with blood on the walls and the floor. The news horrified his mother and destroyed his father. To make matters even worse, one of the neighbor's dogs was found chewing on an elbow, that elbow was identified as Susie's elbow. His father, Jack Salmon, now sleeps in his study while his mother, Abigail, cries herself to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Buckley began to hear the sound of bottles crashing. Jack used to create ships in a bottle and it was a hobby he shared with Susie. Jack picked up the bottles one by one and crashed them against the wall. The noise woke Buckley up and he couldn't go back to sleep.

Buckley began to hear soft foot steps; he assumed it was his mother coming to check on him. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, in spite of the crashing sounds of his father. A bright bluish light began to shine on Buckley. It was so bright, Buckley couldn't keep his eyes shut and yet he couldn't open them. The light died down and in its place, a young girl stood next to him. She was a teenager, no older then his surviving sister Lindsey. She had long red curly hair and she wore a blue jacket and yellow jeans. It was his sister Susie. Buckley couldn't contain his excitement, but Susie bent down and covered his mouth.

"Please don't make a sound," she said softly, "I don't want you to awake the others."

"I knew you would come back," said Buckley in excitement, his words made Susie start to tear up. Susie had died only recently but she was able to return to earth to see her family. Susie then sat down on her brother's bed and she hugged him.

"What's wrong?" Buckley innocently asked, Susie didn't know what to tell him. Buckley was only ten years old; she knew that he was too young to know of the horrific way she died.

"I'm dead," she said softly to him. Silence fell over the two of them, Buckley began to cry himself. But on the other hand, he was confused. How could Susie be with him if she was dead?

"Are you a ghost?" Buckley asked her.

Susie began to chuckle and she hugged him tighter in her arms. After a few minutes, Susie knew that she now had to return to the after-life. She laid her brother down on his bed, kissed him on the cheek and slowly walked out of his room. But Buckley was not tired and he followed his sister. A bright light shined at the end of the hallway corridor. Susie was about to walk through it but Buckley caught up to her and he grabbed his sister's hand. Before he knew it, Buckley and Susie transformed into light beams and the two of them traveled through space in light speed. Buckley could see the planets and comets fly by them as the earth disappears right behind him. Another bright light flash in front of him and the next thing he knew, he was lying in a field of flowers lying between mountains under a night sky. Susie was standing on top of him, looking cross at her younger brother.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I didn't want you to leave," Buckley responded innocently. The truth was that Susie didn't want to leave her younger brother too. She wanted to stay with him and the rest of her family, but she was now dead. She must stay in the afterlife. Buckley then picked himself up and sat on the ground; Susie sat down beside him and put her arm around him.

"What is this place?" Buckley asked Susie.

"It is called the In-Between," Susie answered, "it is the place between heaven and earth."

"It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is very beautiful."

"Is this the place where you will be for now on?"

"Yes," Susie paused for a moment and she began to choke on her words, "But I will always be with you." The next moment, Susie instructed Buckley to lie down and close his eyes. He followed her demands and the next moment, he was back in his bedroom. Buckley got out of bed and headed towards Susie's room, where he found his father holding her snow globe.

"Dad," he said, "I saw Susie. She kissed me on the cheek."

"I saw her too," Jack replied and he walked over to hug his son.


End file.
